Red Sky at Morning, Session Five, The Nature of Shadow
Opening The session opened in the camp of The Desert Lion Tribe, with our heroes standing amidst a very confused tribe of which they were now considered the leaders. Largo led his tribe to the Fortress of the Black Lion, where he was immediately greeted by Xanxian, Ancient Beast of the Dunes. After telling Xanxian the situation, he eagerly agreed to protect and house the tribe for as long as necessary. Indeed, he was enthusiastic about the idea; he was constructed with that very type of purpose in mind. The party departed north, following the directions indicated by Dax's Castestone. Along the way, they ran into a merchant who casually asked for "Raven". Raven recognized the merchant as a fellow Sidereal and excused himself indefinitely, saying simply that "something had come up." The Standing Stones of Cinnabar The party headed northward to the Lap, but after a couple days they received a message from Leviathan advising they stop by the "an archaeological dig to the northwest", as there was talk of a chimera in that area. The party thanked him for the tip and took a short detour. They followed a smaller highway, and as they grew closer they found the sand taking on a strange red quality. When it became clear that this was not a coincidence, Fern jump overboard and began comparing the sand and red rocks to her Castestone. They were clearly of the same material. The highway eventually led to a camp that was visibly crawling with Dragon-Blood. The party decided not to risk exposing themselves, and skirted around it to the dig site itself. Once there, Fern immediately recognized it as the Standing Stones of Cinnabar. There were a couple tents stations near the edge. One of the tent flaps opened to reveal a terrified-looking man who rapidly beckoned the party to come. Amber approached first, as the party was concerned about revealing their true identities. The servants explained that there was an Anathema in the ruins, and assumed the party was the group of Wyld Hunters they had requested. Amber quickly and smoothly went along, and eventually the rest of the party was gathered in the tent. They advised the servants to stay hidden, and stepped out into the center of the bright red Stones. Fern, using her Essence Sight, picked out the location of the chimera, which was somehow hidden in a crevice between two of the Stones. Amber quickly hatched a plan. Largo ran distraction to draw the beast's attention, while Dax threw a stone to wake it from its resting place. This worked excellently; the creature- a sickly green-furred monkey with porcupine quills up its face- dove at Largo, and Largo deflected the blows with his shield. Meanwhile, Amber launched a terrible sonic blast that tore at the creature, and Largo launched it hard against the wall, flattening it. Fern then connected a vicious hit with a Flying Guillotine, but the creature refused to die, retaliating by launching a toothy, dripping pseudopod at Fern's neck. It connected, and Fern suddenly felt feverish as poison and infection shot through her body. Seeing this, Amber launched another sonic blast, severing the pseudopod from the creature and leaving it writhing on the ground. At this opening, Dax leaped onto the creature and drove his blades home, killing it. It slowly reformed into a merchant in a turban, gasping something about "making the song stop." Fern watched with her Essence Sight as the Lunar Exaltation, free of it corruption, fled to Heaven to be cleansed. She was about to comment on it when she discovered her wounds prevented her from speaking. Fern, despite repairing any potentially lethal damage, quickly discovered that the infection in her wounds were beyond her own strength to heal. Without really giving much warning, the servants who had been hiding in the tent burst out to see a great display of Solar anima flare. Their response was rather amusing: "Wow, you must be some powerful Dragon-Blood." The party decided not to press the issue. Fern allowed the men to escort her and the rest of the party to the main camp, where they were given a warm greeting that was promptly interrupted when someone saw Fern's wounds. They escorted her to the tent of their leader, a Wood Aspect Dragon-Blood, so that he might heal her. As he placed his hands on Fern's neck, channeling Essence, something flashed across Fern's mind. She recognized those hands. The hands of her father. Fern sat up with a start. The Dragon-Blood quickly finished using the charm, then asked what was wrong. Fern paused to consider and then proceeded to deny anything being strange. The man politely introduced himself as Saychel Herek and explained that the entire camp was in the party's debt. He told the party a bit about the encampment, explaining that they were researching Mela, the First Sorcerer. This elicited even more restrained excitement from Fern, as she was herself the reincarnation of the true First Sorcerer, Brigid. After a bit more discussion, the party decided it was best to leave this a mystery to him, and perhaps to return someday. They continued their journey to the north. Aboard the Diamond Resolve The party continued north to the Lap to meet with the Diamond Resolve. They stopped a moment to look at the Penitent, a great statue larger than the city itself, and Largo picked up a small Yasal Crystal in the markets. They waited a couple days for the Resolve to catch up. When the Resolve did arrive, the party received a warm greeting from the crew as well as Saffron Dolphin. They immediately departed, again following Dax's Castestone, but they hadn't gone for more than a week before running into a large ship bearing the Realm's colors. Amber took the initiative, hoping to settle this without violence; and more importantly to settle this without drawing more attention to themselves. The rest of the party hid below deck, and as expected, the ship pulled up and docked with the Resolve. The leader, a Dragon-Blood by the name of Tepet Ranoa, introduced himself and asked what their business was, commenting on the exceptional nature of the ship. Amber played it smoothly, explaining that she was a scavenger lord and that this ship contained her crew. This seemed to appease Ranoa, and he explained that he was part of a Wyld Hunt party sent down past the Lap. He asked them for news from the place. Amber simply said that they hadn't actually stopped in and were just passing through. Ranoa seemed a little disappointed. He still seemed a bit suspicious as he walked back to his ship. Before the vessels were untied, there were sounds of scuffling and some chaos belowdecks. Amber ran over to the other ship and demanded an explanation from Ranoa, who seemed just as confused. They hurried down to find a man-sized hole between the two ships and three Blood Apes, part of the Resolve's crew, going berserk and wrestling with each other over a set of red vials. A quick examination found that the Hunt's vessel contained a rare concoction of demon's blood, which had been en route to none other than the Standing Stones themselves. Ranoa angrily explained that the concoction was not supposed to be dangerous, it was only known for its fear-inducing properties, but apparently it had a strange effect on the Blood Apes. Fern tried to win command of the Apes, and one did listen to her. Trying to help, Saffron Dolphin stepped forward- and was promptly bull rushed by an angry demon. Thinking quickly, Dax launched his golden chain around the beast's ankle, sending it sprawling on the floor. Not batting an eye, Dolphin stepped on the flattened Ape, jumped into the center of the fray, and commanded the apes to halt. At the same time, seeing Dax's orichalcum weapon and recognizing Fern and Largo, the Hunt raised their weapons. Before anyone could act, Dolphin was enveloped in a brilliant sapphire bonfire. Everything stopped. The demons quelled their attacks, and the members of the Hunt turned to Ranoa, clearly baffled by this turn of events. Ranoa demanded an explanation. Amber explained their whole story, and as much of the true nature of Solars as she knew. Ranoa seemed skeptical, but seeing the Dragons choose a follower of the Anathema before his very eyes was enough to make him believe most anything. They continued discussion, and though not all the members of the Hunt believed every statement that was made, by the end every single one knew that the beings standing before them were not servants of evil. Ranoa asked about the Anathema at the Standing Stones, and the party relayed their encounter with the chimera. This was the final straw. Ranoa then looked at the new Exalt, Saffron Dolphin, and remembered the needs of his House. He offered her membership, and requested that she accompany them to the Standing Stones. Dolphin turned to Fern, and it was decided that this might be not only good for the party but the future of Solars as a whole. The party gave Saffron Dolphin one of their five Prayer Transceiver Modules and bade her good luck. As the ship departed, Fern heard a scream from the other ship, sounding as though it was from Saffron Dolphin. Fern quickly leaped off the boat and drove the Resplendent Dolphin to the other ship, leaping up onto the deck. She found Saffron Dolphin standing there, unharmed. Confused, she returned to the Resolve, only to discover that finally her Castestone was glowing. Remembering the stories of the Station of Fear from the White Treatise, she pressed it to her forehead. She was rewarded with intense pain as the stone began to heat, then melt and stream down her face. Not giving in, she held it there until the stone had completely melted and pooled in her eyes. Unable to open them, she activated her Essence Sight- only to find that it was much easier to use and required no expenditure of Essence. However, a bit of analysis revealed that this was permanent, and that she would likely never be able to see normally again. The party continued along the path charted out by the compass, but not before stopping by a few geomantic hotspots marked off by Amber's map of dragon lines. The first revealed a small, rocky island. The second seemed to lead to nothing, which Amber surmised was underwater. The third led to a rocky island not unlike the first, but as the Resolve approached it appeared that there was a ship docked there. The party opted to scoot around and avoid the matter. Finally, after three week's travel since they had met the Wyld Hunt, the party began to approach their destination. The Ivory Pillar A couple miles from their final destination, the ship ran into a collection of white jade plinths, likely anchored in their place by Essence. On the far side the water seemed calmer, and the sky seemed darker. The party recognized it as a shadowland. They pressed forward in the Resplendent Dolphin, eventually coming to their goal: an enormous pillar of marble, white jade, and black jade. The tomb of Shadow's Grace, The Ivory Pillar. Reaching the base, no entrance was to be found, though at close range the black jade adorning the structure was readable. An analysis from Fern's Essence Sight revealed a doorway, but it became clear that only Dax could enter. It seemed a solid wall to anything but his touch. As the party waited outside, Dax made his way up through a mess of razor-sharp wires and superheated beams of Solar Essence. Eventually these stopped appearing, and Dax proceeded to run straight up the wall, then leaped onto one last trampoline of wires. These propelled him onto a set of five golden discs, each adorned with a disembodied head. These slowly rotated in a circle, and as they reached one point, a crimson eye looked at the disc and fried it into a skull. Dax puzzled this for a while, and after holding a head in his hand for it minute, it opened its eyes and gave a hint: "BECOME AS DEATH" and immediately fell inanimate again. Dax activated an obscure technique; the entrance charm to Ebon Shadow Style, which feigned death. Instead of frying him with electricity, the eye opened and raised the platform up through it. The elevator raised Dax up through the eye into a hallway that seemed to circle around the outside edge of the manse. This room was filled with fast-moving wires of Solar Essence, and Dax proceeded to dodge these with great skill, eventually making his way to a doorway. It opened to the outside, a hundred yards above sea level. Fern attached a rope to a javelin and tossed it to Dax, and the party gathered again. A bit of experimentation revealed that the wires did not penetrate orichalcum, and with that the party made its way around the hallway, causing it to rearrange itself as they went, eventually coming across a doorway to the center. The central chamber was dark, but that's hardly an impairment to the Chosen of the Sun. It was also mostly featureless, except for a single large hand composed of pure insubstantial shadow in the center. This hand fired four orichalcum discs, each bearing a caste mark, from its fingers; as well as five elemental discs from its thumb. Attacks on the hand seemed ineffective at first, but a brilliant spinning move by Dax tore open each of the fingertips. Largo shattered the first golden one by slicing it lengthwise with his scythe, then impaled another, and finally grabbed one with his shield and smashed it into another. Amber hit one with a perfect frequency, causing to break into five identical pieces, then blasted another. Fern split one cleanly in two with a Guillotine, and impaled another with a javelin of Essence, pinning it to the wall. Dax, not to be outdone in his own tomb, rolled under one and gave it a kangaroo kick to send it careening around the room. He leaped on the other, then tossed his chain to Largo, who held on. Dax then rode the disc in a wide arc into the other and jumped off as they shattered brilliantly. The party, examining the contraption, tentatively placed the discs back in the fingertips, and Amber placed the elemental discs back in exact reverse order into the thumb. The thumb shone a brilliant light, which reflected into the tips of the four fingers. These reflected back above the hand in the shape of the caste mark, crossing to show the intersection of the four castes- the Night caste symbol. Discovery The party heard a little yelp followed by a thud, as a black and gold snake fell from above. He introduced himself as Coil of Integumentary Darkness, a companion to Shadow's Grace, and asked how many days had passed since the Usurpation. Upon hearing the party's response he asked for a drink. Eventually he activated the roof's opening mechanisms, and the party laid eyes on the Coatl for the first time. They headed up to it and explored it thoroughly; Fern was excited to find several books in the library, and the party discovered the Portrait of the Champions of the West. Cid also pulled out a copy of the Coatl Operations Manual. Before departing and at Cid's urging, the party headed back down to examine an inscription on the hand. It read, "At the heart of night lies the sea." After trying to pour some water through the Night Caste symbol, the party pulled the black jade disc from the thumb and put it in the center. This new disc fell free of the hand and read, "At first light seek the shadow." It also had coordinates. The party headed to Dax's manse, The Unseen Grotto of Night's Embrace, utilizing the ship's Dragon Drive for the first time in many centuries. This caused the ship to spin wildly, and something above the dashboard caught fire at one point, but for the most part it worked. They searched the manse a bit, and had a deep philosophical discussion with Fluffy, but eventually concluded that the manse and the treasure were unrelated. They headed to the exact coordinates on the disc and found an unremarkable beach. They waited until the first rays of the sun poked up from behind the treetops, and the light trickled past rock formations in such a way as to form a four-armed humanoid shadow. The party wisely dug there, and eventually came across an iron chest. They began to open it. Character Thoughts and Reactions Steve thought this session finally went like he was hoping a session would, and he's really getting into the campaign. Well, okay, he messed up the eye puzzle a little. He likes the Coatl a lot. Plot hook central and an easy way of adjusting session length. Also, everything with Fern went WAAAAY too smoothly. He's a little nervous at how each session page is longer than the last, ha ha. Dax can has airsheep nao? Seriously, though. Dax just went from sweet to friggin' awesome. Loved the Ivory Pillar, loved the Chimera, loved the Portrait, loved Cid, loved the Coatl, loved everything. Especially loved pulling the three-die stunt with Largo, and agrees with him that co-op maneuvers would be quite welcome. Looking forward to getting Shade up and running. Felt a little dumb for totally overthinking (or is that underthinking? :-) ) his own tomb, but hey, you gotta explore every angle, right? Every session gets more and more nuts. At this rate, the next session page could be around 25,000 bytes, almost as long as Dax's backstory. If this is what Steve wants a session to be like normally... then AWESOME!!! Largo enjoyed the big spinny discs of doom. He only wishes there were more Abyssals. Steve has warned him about next session though. Oddly enough, he kind of missed Raven. Oh, and he wants to develop possible co-op maneuvers with other team members. If they want to. You know, for 3-die stuntage. Fern is intrigued. Really intrigued. Alexa likes that she's finally getting herself to play Fern as Fern, and has only five further comments: Mua ha ha ha ha. Followed by Red Sky at Morning, Session Six, The Burden of the Sun Category:Sunlight on the Water Category:Red Sky at Morning